OutRight Action International has launched the OutRight COVID-19 Global LGBTIQ Emergency Fund.

The fund will offer emergency financial resources to LGBTIQ organizations around the world who are serving people impacted by COVID-19, and support OutRight’s work to document and respond to the impacts of the crisis on LGBTIQ communities.

The first disbursement of $100,000 opens for applications on April 8, 2020.

The fund was launched in collaboration with founding partners Calvin Klein, Inc., Microsoft Corp. and the Dunn Family Charitable Foundation. It will offer one-time general operating grants of $2,500-$10,000 to LGBTIQ organizations in regions outside of North America and Europe that are addressing issues exacerbated by COVID-19 facing LGBTIQ people, including:

• Access to basic needs such as food, emergency shelter, and Wi-Fi;
• Access to healthcare;
• The economic impact, such as unemployment and poverty;
• Domestic/family violence against LGBTIQ people;
• Protection of human rights, safety and security of LGBTIQ people in times of crisis.

Executive Director of OutRight Action International, Jessica Stern, comments:

“During times of crisis vulnerable communities become even more vulnerable. LGBTIQ people already experience barriers to access to health, disproportionate levels of domestic and family violence, and scapegoating. Under the COVID-19 pandemic LGBTIQ people are also cut off from community centers and events where we can be truly ourselves and safe. It is OutRight’s duty and privilege to step up and support LGBTIQ organizations serving their respective communities in this time of crisis and isolation. I am immensely grateful to our founding partners Calvin Klein, Inc., Microsoft Corp. and the Dunn Family Charitable Foundation, for their leadership and solidarity with the LGBTIQ community at this uncertain time.”

OutRight is also documenting the specific needs faced by LGBTIQ people around the world as they face this pandemic, adapting our programmatic work – such as our gender-based violence projects in Asia and the Caribbean – to continue supporting vulnerable LGBTIQ communities, and advocating for explicit LGBTIQ inclusion in global coronavirus response efforts.
OutRight is seeking additional corporate partners and celebrity ambassadors for the fund, and is also accepting donations from concerned individuals.